View source for USS Triangulum

{{short description|Cargo ship of the United States Navy}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Triangulum (AK-102).tif
|Ship caption=USS ''Triangulum'' (AK-102) (1943–1947)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1946}}
|Ship name=
*''Eugene B. Daskam''
*''Triangulum''
|Ship namesake=*[[Eugene B. Daskam]]
*The constellation [[Triangulum]]
|Ship owner=
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry=
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=as a [[Liberty ship|Type EC2-S-C1]] hull, [[Maritime Commission|MCE]] hull 1669{{sfn|CalShip|2010}}
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[California Shipbuilding Corporation]], [[Terminal Island]], Los Angeles, California
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=202{{sfn|CalShip|2010}}
|Ship way number=8{{sfn|CalShip|2010}}
|Ship laid down=14 May 1943
|Ship launched=6 June 1943
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=19 June 1943
|Ship commissioned=30 July 1943
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=15 April 1946
|Ship maiden voyage= 
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed= ''Triangulum'', on 27 May 1943
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=17 July 1947
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=*[[Hull classification symbol#Support type|Hull symbol]]: AK-102
*[[International Code of Signals|Code letters]]: NTWF
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Whiskey}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}}
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=[[Image:Bronze-service-star-3d.png|18px]] 2 × [[Battle star#Navy warships|battle stars]]
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate= returned to MARCOM, sold for scrapping, 19 March 1973, withdrawn, 27 July 1973
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption={{sfn|Navsource|2013}}
|Ship class={{sclass|Crater|cargo ship}}
|Ship type=[[Liberty ship|Type EC2-S-C1]]
|Ship displacement={{Crater cargo displacement}}
|Ship length={{Crater cargo length}}
|Ship beam={{Crater cargo beam}}
|Ship draft={{Crater cargo draft}}
|Ship power={{Crater cargo power B&W}}
|Ship propulsion={{Crater cargo propulsion JH}}
|Ship speed={{Crater cargo speed}}
|Ship capacity= {{Crater cargo capacity}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=16 officers 190 enlisted
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
*1 × [[5-inch/38-caliber gun|{{cvt|5|in|0}}/38]] [[caliber (artillery)|caliber]] [[dual purpose gun|dual purpose]] (DP) gun
*4 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|{{cvt|40|mm|2}} Bofors]] [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] (AA) gun mounts
*6 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|{{cvt|20|mm|2}} Oerlikon cannons]] AA gun mounts
|Ship
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Triangulum'' (AK-102)''' was a {{sclass|Crater|cargo ship}} commissioned by the [[US Navy]] for service in [[World War II]]. ''Triangulum'' was named after the constellation [[Triangulum]]. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the [[Asiatic-Pacific Theater]].

==Construction==
''Triangulum'' was laid down 14 May 1943, under [[Maritime Commission]] (MARCOM) contract, MC hull No. 1669, as the [[Liberty ship]] SS ''Eugene B. Daskam'', by [[California Shipbuilding Corporation]], [[Terminal Island]], Los Angeles, California; renamed ''Triangulum'' 27 May 1943; launched 6 June 1943; sponsored by Mrs. D. H. Mann; acquired by the Navy on 19 June 1943, from the [[War Shipping Administration]] (WSA) on a "[[bareboat]]" basis; converted to Navy use at the [[Naval Base San Diego|Destroyer Base]], San Diego, California; and commissioned on 30 July 1943.{{sfn|DANFS}}

==Service history == 
The ship was one of five Navy manned Liberties assigned 8 December 1943, to the [[South West Pacific Area|Southwest Pacific Area]] for service under operational control of the Commander, [[US Seventh Fleet]] in meeting [[US Army]] requirements.{{sfn|Masterson|1949|pp=359, 390 (fn 61)}} Assigned to the [[Naval Transportation Service]] (NTS), the auxiliary cargo ship moved up the coast to load cargo at [[San Francisco]], California, and stood out to sea with a [[convoy]] on 28 August, bound for the [[New Hebrides]]. She arrived at [[Espiritu Santo]] on 2 October, and, for the next five months, shuttled troops and cargo between ports in [[Australia]] and [[New Guinea]].{{sfn|DANFS}}

=== Landing troops at Humboldt Bay ===
''Triangulum'' embarked part of a [[battalion]] of Army [[combat engineers]] at [[Lae]] and sortied on 14 April 1944, with [[Task Group]] (TG) 77.1, the Western Attack Group, for the invasion of [[Jayapura|Hollandia]]. On the morning of 22 April, she began landing her 700 troops on the beaches of [[Yos Sudarso Bay|Humboldt Bay]]. The ship completed discharging cargo by 18:00 the next day and departed in a convoy bound, via [[Buna, Papua New Guinea|Buna]], for [[Milne Bay]]. She then resumed her supply runs between [[Australia]] and [[New Guinea]].{{sfn|DANFS}}

=== Supplying the troops during the Philippine invasion ===
The ship loaded combat cargo at [[Manus Island|Manus]] and got underway for Hollandia on 7 November, to rendezvous with a convoy proceeding to the [[Philippines]]. She arrived at [[Leyte Gulf]] on 19 November, and began discharging supplies. During her visit there, [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] planes frequently attacked Allied shipping; and, during a raid on [[Thanksgiving Day]], four of her men were wounded by friendly [[antiaircraft]] fire.{{sfn|DANFS}}

=== End-of-war activity ===
On 4 December, she departed the area for Australia and, after calling at Hollandia, arrived at [[Brisbane]], Australia, on 17 December 1944. ''Triangulum'' shuttled supplies from Australia to South Pacific bases, mostly in New Guinea, for the next year. The supply runs were broken by three voyages to the Philippines: in January, May, and August 1945. On 8 November, she stood out of [[Leyte]] to load cargo at Hollandia, [[Biak]], Milne Bay, and Manus to be transported to the United States.{{sfn|DANFS}}

== Post-war decommissioning ==
On the last day of 1945, the ship arrived at San Francisco, where she was stripped for inactivation and ordered to join the [[Reserve Fleet]] in [[Territory of Hawaii|Hawaii]]. ''Triangulum'' arrived at [[Pearl Harbor]] on 23 February 1946, and was decommissioned there on 15 April. In May 1947, she was towed back to San Francisco and returned to MARCOM on 2 July. ''Triangulum'' was struck from the [[Navy list]] on 17 July 1947.{{sfn|DANFS}}

On 19 March 1973, she was sold to [[Nicolai Joffe Corporation]], for $168,113,{{sfn|MARAD Triangulum}} to be scrapped within 24 months. She was withdrawn from the fleet 27 July 1973.{{sfn|MARAD Eugene}}

==Awards== 
''Triangulum'' received two [[Battle star#Navy warships|battle stars]] for [[World War II]] service. Her crew was eligible for the following medals:{{sfn|Navsource|2013}}
* [[Combat Action Ribbon]] (retroactive)
* [[American Campaign Medal]]
* [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] (2)
* [[World War II Victory Medal]]
* [[Philippines Liberation Medal]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
;Citations
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
'''Online resources'''
* {{cite DANFS
  | url = https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/triangulum.html
  | title = Triangulum
  | publisher = Naval History and Heritage Command
  | access-date = 14 February 2017
  | ref = {{sfnRef|DANFS}}
  }}{{PD-notice}}
* {{cite web
  | url = http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/kcalifornia.htm
  | title = California Shipbuilding, Los Angeles CA
  | publisher =  www.ShipbuildingHistory.com
  | date = 13 October 2010
  | access-date = 14 February 2017
  | ref = {{sfnRef|CalShip|2010}}
  }}
* {{cite web
  | url = http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/13/130102.htm
  | title=USS Triangulum (AK-102)
  | publisher=Navsource.org
  | date= 6 September 2013
  | access-date= 14 February 2017
  | ref={{sfnRef|Navsource|2013}}
  }}
* {{cite web
  | url = https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/sh/ShipHistory/Detail/4915
  | title = TRIANGULUM (AK-102)
  | publisher = United States Department of Transportation
  | access-date = 14 February 2017
  | ref = {{sfnRef|MARAD Triangulum}}
  }}
* {{cite web
  | url = https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/sh/ShipHistory/Detail/7894
  | title = EUGENE B. DASKAM
  | publisher = United States Department of Transportation
  | access-date = 14 February 2017
  | ref = {{sfnRef|MARAD Eugene}}
  }}
'''Books'''
* {{cite book
  |last=Masterson
  |first=Dr. James R.
  |title=U. S. Army Transportation In The Southwest Pacific Area 1941-1947
  |year=1949
  |publisher=Transportation Unit, Historical Division, Special Staff, U. S. Army
  |location=Washington, D. C.

}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{navsource|09/13/130102|USS Triangulum (AK-102)}}

{{Crater class cargo ship}}
{{California Shipbuilding Corporation, Los Angeles Shipyards}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Triangulum (AK-102)}}
[[Category:Crater-class cargo ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet]]